‘Amazon Go’ video hints at domination of brick-and-mortar universe [VIDEO]

The Amazon Go stores, debuting in Seattle in early 2017, are just the beginning, according to Nerdwriter, a blogger and film maker, who lays out a compelling case that Amazon is looking to mirror its cloud-computing web-services model in the brick-and-mortar realm.

The cloud-computing model, which saw the e-retailer license technology that now generates billions of dollars in fees from companies like Netflix, makes up the backbone of the internet. Now, Amazon is looking for its next conquest.

Amazon’s brick-and-mortar stores are, according to Nerdwriter and other observers, a way to patent, market and eventually license their frictionless retail experience. Their new stores feature, “no lines, no checkouts and no registers,” according to a recent promotional movie. Beyond cutting labor costs, the new shopping model gives stores unprecedented data about their customers purchasing habits (and much more) before they even select their first item.

The stores use computer vision, deep learning algorithms, and sensor fusion to tabulate and charge purchases. This allows Amazon, and other retailers that license the technology, to drive up in-store sales in a way that grocery stores can only dream of. Real-time coupons, targeted advertising, following customers as they make purchasing decisions in real time – these are just a few of the possibilities.

Amazon’s stores are a mechanism for the e-retailer to collect data, perfect the business model and prove its viability, forcing other retailers in the brick-and-mortar sector to license Amazon’s retail technology if they want to compete – because developing their own tech and retrofitting their own stores will be too expensive and time-consuming for most extant retailers. In short, Amazon plans to dominate the entire retail universe, and this is how.

Nerdwriter lays out the evidence that Amazon is looking beyond just stores with its new announcement (below)